EU issues worldwide ban on British beef exports

March 26, 1996
Web posted at: 12:30 a.m. EST (0530 GMT)

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- The European Union banned exports
of British beef worldwide Monday despite insistence by
British authorities that the ban was unnecessary and no
further action was needed to protect the public from the so-
called "mad cow disease."

Because Britain is a signatory to the European Union's
agriculture treaties, the EU is within its authority to ban
exports of British beef anywhere in the world, said EU
Agriculture Commissioner Frans Fischler.

"Exports from the U.K., exports of meat and other related
products are now banned. The ban extends to live animals, to
sperm and embryos and the meat of cattle which have been
slaughtered or will be slaughtered in Britain. And all
products made from beef and veal," Fischler said Monday
announcing the ban.

Persistent concern over mad cow disease erupted into panic
Wednesday when a potential link was found between the
disease, also known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, and
its human equivalent, which has killed 10 young Britons.

The government has acknowledged that the disease was the most
likely source of a that similar human brain ailment,
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

British authorities, who immediately lambasted the EU
decision as ignoring the real risks, were expected to quickly
challenge the EU ban.

The EU decision followed a speech earlier Monday by the
British Health Secretary Steven Dorrell to Parliament in
which he said additional measures to curb mad cow disease are
unwarranted and the risk of contracting the disease is
"extremely small."

Dorrell told the House of Commons that scientists have
concluded that children, pregnant women, and the sick are at
no greater risk of contracting the disease than anyone else.
He said the government's scientific advisory committee did
not recommend new action by the government.

"The committee does not believe that any additional measures
are justified at this stage, but the situation should be kept
under careful review so that additional significant
information can be taken into account as soon as it becomes
available," Dorrell said.

The government's decision not to take new action quelled
speculation that it would order mass slaughtering of British
cows in an attempt to get rid of the disease. Officials had
said previously slaughtering the country's 11 million cattle
was an option.

Agriculture Minister Douglas Hogg said he hoped the
government's latest statements would help restore consumer
confidence in British beef. (153K AIFF sound or
153K WAV sound)

A majority of European countries banned British beef after
Dorrell said last week that the advisory committee had
detected a new strain of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in 10
patients and that "most likely" the disease was linked to
"mad cow disease." CJD is a fatal brain-wasting disease.

In 1995, the British beef industry sold $6 billion worth of
beef.

"All along the government have delayed and given false
reassurances," said Harriet Harman, the Labor Party's health
spokeswoman. "They took years before they made the disease
notifiable in cattle."

She said Labor had attempted to put regulations on cattle
feed in 1978 but that the Conservative government had said
that the industry could best regulate itself. "When it comes
to children," she said, "the government should err on the
side of caution." (187K AIFF sound or
187K WAV sound)

Mad cow disease was detected in 1986 after British farmers
began the practice of feeding ground-up sheep offal to cows.
That practice was banned in 1989.

Dorrell said again Monday that the advisory panel did not
have specific scientific proof that the 10 cases of CJD were
linked to mad cow disease. But he said, the committee felt
that the cases probably resulted from exposure to mad cow
disease before the British government banned the feeding of
sheep offal to cows in 1989.

"Changing from beef to non-beef products is not necessarily
without risk," Dorrell quoted the advisory panel as saying.
"In light of the scientific evidence," said Dorrell, "there
is clearly no reason for the government to advise local
education authorities to remove beef from school menus." (136K AIFF sound or
136K WAV sound)

Government figures released Monday showed that there have
been 161,663 cases of mad cow disease recorded in Britain
since 1986.

But despite the government's assurances that British beef is
safe, across Britain sales of beef have plummeted. A number
of restaurant chains including McDonalds, Burger King,
Wendy's and Wimpy have halted the sale of hamburgers made
with British beef.